Sometimes when I’m bored I like to type things into google and see what google suggests for me.  Here are some of the more interesting ones I got today…

This first one I’d seen before, but I was surprised to find that it still comes up!  I don’t know who determines these things.  Do that many people search for this?? 

This next one, I wasn’t sure whether to highlight the first one or the badger one…

I would like to try this too…

Mmm, tasty:

I don’t know either…

Fun for the whole family!

Since I may be moving next year, and will need to find a new job, I thought it would be good to have some samples of my work to show potential future employers.  I found a site that offers limited space for free, so I signed up and sorted through some of my (many, many) grooming pics. 

I could only post 35 images on the free site, but I think that is fine for now, although narrowing them down was hard!  Probably no one really wants to go through much more than that anyway.  I figure that if they need more, or examples of other breeds I’ve groomed, I can always email them.  I chose a few of the ones that I had good before and after shots of, and then added some finished grooms at the end. 

Any thoughts or comments are welcome!  Here is the link:

http://laurawarden.carbonmade.com/

I made this video clip of Alice today.  The music kept messing up at the end and it cuts out a few seconds too short, but I could not get it to work any better.  I thought the video came out pretty cute anyway.

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Java Junkee recently posted pictures of a broom standing by itself in her kitchen.  Seeing that the top of the broom was not visible in her photo, I became immediately suspicious.  I decided to go to JJ’s house to see the broom for myself. 

When I got there, the broom was just leaning against the wall.  “Ha!”  I told JJ. ” That is not a magic broom at all.  Let me borrow that broom and I will show you what cool tricks it can really do!”

After some begging and pleading, JJ reluctantly allowed me to borrow the broom.  (I think she just wanted me to go away!) 

The broom and I had lots of fun together, and I took some photos for JJ so she could see our adventures.  What a time we had!

First, I took the broom to NY to meet the Naked Cowboy:

The Naked Cowboy really seemed to like the broom.  In fact, I had quite a bit of trouble getting it back from him!  He offered me 20 bucks to let him keep the broom for the night.  Can you believe that?  I told him I would accept no less than 50!

After disinfecting the broom the following day,  I decided to find a party so that the broom could make some new friends.  We found a bunch of people holding signs that looked like they were having fun, and the broom begged me to let him make a sign too!  I found a willing helper to hold the sign with the broom so that I could get their picture:

(That broom sure is a trouble-maker!  I swear I did NOT put him up to this!)

After that, I figured I’d see if the broom could really do some magic.  I tracked down none other than the Greatest Wizard of All Time!  Here is a picture of Harry putting the broom to the test:

Unfortunately, they didn’t get off the ground.  The broom was so sad that I asked him what I could do to cheer him up.  He said that he was very sad that he could not fly, because it had always been his dream to set bristles on the moon.  I had to pull some strings, but fortunately I know some people, and I got us there in no time! 

After all the excitement, the broom decided that he really was homesick, so I took him back to JJ’s place.  He was very happy to see her. 

And look what he did!

I wanted to try making pumpkin muffins today, just because they sounded like a good idea, and I wanted to see if I could make them extra-healthy.  I went to Kroger after work to get the stuff I needed. Of course, they were completely out of canned pumpkin. So I went across the street to the Walmart “Marketplace” and wouldn’t you know it? Empty shelves there too, where the pumpkin was supposed to be. Not about to admit defeat, I then drove over to the Super Walmart (aka the Devil’s Asshole) and even THEY were out of canned pumpkin. Wouldn’t you think they’d be stocked up on that shit by now?

I ended up giving up on the idea of pumpkin muffins, but I still made muffins. I wanted to make some that I could actually eat without guilt, so I found the healthiest recipes I could and merged them and tweaked them and came up with something I thought was more than acceptable. What’s more, they were actually GOOD. I expected them to come out as little bricks because I used only whole wheat flour, but while they were slightly chewy and more dense than they’d be with white flour, they still rose and came out nicely muffiny! (Shut up; that is too a word!) They were tasty and yummy enough that even Josh devoured them, and declared them one of his new favorite foods!

These are very easy to make.  You don’t even need a mixer; I just beat the one lonely egg in with a fork.  I plan on experimenting with this recipe next time, but here is the basic recipe, which was pretty good by itself:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4  cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)

½ cup applesauce

1 egg

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups, or use non-stick pans (like I did.)

2. Combine flours, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt; mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine milk, applesauce and egg; blend well.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened, without over-stirring (batter will be slightly lumpy, and pretty thick.)

5. Fill cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm or store for up to ??? days. (I haven’t figured that part out yet because baked goods never last more than 2 days in my house!)

ADD-IN IDEAS:

Canned pumpkin

mashed ripe banana

chopped nuts

blueberries

raisins

finely chopped apple

different spices (ginger, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract)

[Editing to say that this is something one of my friends sent to me as a JOKE!  It is not intended to be taken at face-value.  Hence the tag "humor".  Comments may have drifted off-course, so we'll just pretend they are from a different post.]

I think the following story is a pretty good example of the differences you can expect in healthcare depending on who you are.  What do you think; is this discrimination?

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Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint.  Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.

The FIRST patient sees his family doctor after waiting three weeks for an appointment, then waits eight weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn’t reviewed for another week, and finally has his surgery scheduled for six months later.

The SECOND patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

Why the different treatment for the two patients?

BOTH are in the United States.

The FIRST is a Senior Citizen.

The SECOND is a Golden Retriever.

I helped out more on this one with the photos and slides.  Josh also put more time into it and I think it shows.  Slightly less annoying tune to get stuck in your head too (in my humble opinion!)

Once again, our buddy Bill Mahan from the Kentuckians for Single-Payer Healthcare, this time to the tune of Proud to be an American:

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My husband did this as a favor to a friend, and also because we support the cause.  He recorded the music and put it together with a slide show.  I helped by taking some photos and putting in some text.  The video is really amateur, but it was kind of a hurried project.  For what it is, I thought it came out pretty good! 

Disease-Ridden Heart, written by Bill Mahan from the Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare, recorded and produced by my husband, Josh:

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It’s voting time over at Mommy Wants Vodka!

My blog post, just below this one, is listed (in no particular order yet) at number 14.  I would greatly appreciate some votes, if you are so inclined!   Of course, if you see another entry you like better, then go ahead and vote for that one instead.  All in the name of fun!   Thanks!

Aunt Becky, over at Mommy Wants Vodka, decided to host a fun photo contest on her blog.  She sent everyone who volunteered a few of her business cards and asked us to photograph them in creative ways. 

The same day I got her cards in the mail, I was sitting on my back porch and along came a little baby praying mantis.  I had never actually seen one in person, so I thought it was pretty cool.  Remembering Aunt Becky, I went and grabbed her card to show to my new little friend.

Edgar (that’s what I named him) took an immediate liking to Aunt Becky’s card.  Intrigued by the words, he got as close as he could, literally crawling up onto the card.  I went for my camera to take Edgar’s picture, but once he noticed me, he seemed to become a little nervous. 

Here is where he first noticed me taking his picture.  You can see how he looks a little startled and shy:

Next, he seemed to become a little angry, as he got all up in my face:

I tried to back off and tell him that I did not want to hurt him, but he wouldn’t even hear me out.  He decided to challenge me!   I’m telling you, Edgar may look like a cute little baby praying mantis, but he was looking for a fight that day.  See for yourself!

(WARNING!  The picture following the break shows a praying mantis in full-attack mode!  If you are afraid of bugs, you may not want to look.  Click only at your own discretion!)